"Soon there will be no one who remembers when spaceflight was still a dream, the reverie of reclusive boys and the vision of a handful of men"-- Wyn Wachhorst, 1995.

Visit Your Friendly Space Travel Agency

Your appointment will be yesterday... Now wait for last year... Tomorrow as it used to be... It wasn't that long ago that we had a future... All these quotes and a rocket-powered imagination will propel us on a tour of Solar planets and beyond, all as advertised in Space Travel brochures and scenic holograms.

Well, it turns out that you can enjoy similar travel posters for the popular luxury interplanetary destinations - courtesy of Steven Thomas:

We asked him how he came up with the idea for these space travel posters:

"A few years ago I acquired a table in an art show at a role-playing gaming convention. I needed to come up with something that would catch the eye, was sci-fi/fantasy related and something I would want hanging on my wall at home. The following year, "Venus by Air" and "Explore the Crimson Canyons of Mars" were very well received and a fellow artist suggested I create posters for the entire solar system. So, the next year (2007) "Europa Air" and "Midnight Zephyr" were added to the collection. Since then I’ve been hard at work completing the series".

Continuing on a futuristic tour of outer planets:

"...I really admire the art and design of advertising posters of the early 20th century. Combine that with my appreciation for retro science fiction magazine cover art and you get an ad for a futuristic destination. If you are fan of vintage travel ads you may notice that some of the posters are loosely based on existing travel or transportation posters. Whether that be color, layout or some other design element. I felt it would give them a sense of familiarity. Prints of various sizes are available at www.zazzle.com/stevethomas"

Rack up your Space Miles!

Take advantage of travel deals and blast off from the Earth-bound worries into the... space-related ones:

L5 Society made up of huge rotating cities, placed in orbit (at Lagrangian points), was a popular futurist idea in the 1960s and 1970s. Toroidal and cylindrical colonies were supposed to be mankind's new pilgrimage and frontier for habitation; economical studies showed that the concept had merit, but political agendas and sheer cost of transport to space effectively killed this idea in the 1980s. Nothing prevents it from being revived some time in the future, so have a look at the concepts and - who knows - maybe your children will see something like this:

"SF&F Reading Experience" is part of "Dark Roasted Blend / Thrilling Wonder" family of sites. We try to highlight the most entertaining and rewarding science fiction and fantasy, with emphasis on memorable reader experience, not necessarily general acceptance by the critics. Have fun, and delve into our extensive ratings and reviews!

All major OFFICIAL AWARDS are highlighted in BLUE("winner" has a letter "W" by it, otherwise it is a runner-up only)

Our PERSONAL AWARDS (ratings) are highlighted in RED and PURPLE:--/ first place :
--/ second place :
--/ third place :--/ fourth place :--/ cool : (equal to fifth place)
ALL "BEST OF" LISTS ARE LOCATED HERE

These awards are given in the following categories: - novel :
- series :
- novella :
- story :
- collection :

Also, there are our personal STYLE / GENRE SPECIFIC AWARDS.
These reflect the story's content and the lasting impression on the reader:

--/ wonder awardsense-of-wonder, "visual intensity" and inventiveness

--/ idea awardoriginality of idea / concept

--/ adventure awardexhilarating plot, excitement / action

--/ style awardoutstanding literary qualities, inimitable style

--/ romance awardintense and beautiful love / relationships

--/ humour awardfunny and cool

--/ emotion awardtouching, lasting impression, sensitivity

--/ shock valuealtogether wild

--/ awesome scalemind-boggling; further enhances sense-of-wonder

--/ rare findvery hard to locate, mostly from old pulps, never reprinted, etc.

Again, please feel free to leave your own review or comment under every writer's entry; also recommend us other stories you liked.